A typical disc drive includes a base to which various components of the disc drive are mounted. A top cover cooperates with the base to form a housing that defines an internal, sealed environment for the disc drive. The components include a spindle motor, which rotates one or more discs at a high speed. Information is written to and read from tracks on the discs through the use of an actuator assembly, which rotates during a seek operation about a bearing shaft assembly positioned adjacent the discs. The actuator assembly includes at least one actuator arm, which extends towards the discs, with one or more flexures extending from each of the actuator arms. Mounted at the distal end of each of the flexures is a head, which includes an air bearing slider enabling the head to fly in close proximity above the corresponding surface of the associated disc.
Particles in the disc drive have an adverse effect on reliability. Of particular concern are airborne particles that enter the head-disc interface. These particles can scratch the disc surface or become embedded in the disc, leading to catastrophic failures and/or irrecoverable data loss. Additionally, particles under the slider can damage the sensitive head transducer and possibly prevent any further read/write operations of the disc drive. Many disc drives include a recirculation filter within the sealed environment adjacent the discs. The filter traps particles carried by wind passing through the filter and reduces the number of particles within the sealed environment.
Accordingly there is a need for a disc drive that improves recirculation filter performance. The present invention provides a solution to this and other problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.